The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983 Page: 72
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
One of the ranges we saw appeared like a row of immense catafal-
ques, all alike, you could not tell one from another the symmetry was
so perfect. About four o'clock the Station House at the banks of the
Pacos came in sight, much to our delight, as near this we were to make
our Camp-The pontoon bridge over this river is not very safe, and if
the water is high the teams have all to be unloaded the baggage being
carried over by hand.46
The mules being accustomed to fording the rivers are very unwilling
to try the bridge, and we found it necessary to put a man at the head of
each, before they would cross.
Maud and I walked over as the mules were so frightened that the
Col. thought it not quite safe for us to ride. Now we are safely in camp
entirely ready to rest after our long march-
"Escondia" [sic] or Hidden Spring4'
Tuesday evening, Augst 25th
Soon after arriving at the Pacos yesterday there came on a driving
Norther, and we were obliged to keep pretty close within our tents,
which were trenched and perfectly water tight. The water of the river
was not very clear, although we easily settled it with the cactus plant.
We did not use any however having brought enough much better. The
mules all liked it but it was very funny to see Maud's little horse.
The banks of the river are so steep, that the animals cannot go down
to drink, all the water has to be brought to them in buckets; three of
these filled were standing in a row when it came Nellie's turn to drink.
She put her nose to the first, then to the next and on to the third, by
this time she was entirely disgusted and would have kicked them all
over the bank if one of the men had not jumped to prevent it. Thirsty
as she must have been she would not touch a drop-Before morning
the river rose two feet and was still rising when we left.
area. Harriet Bunyard, an 1869 traveler, declared them ".. . the prettiest mountains I
ever saw." Stephen Powers also contrasted the mountains with castles, while Bishop
George F. Pierce noted that the mountains, "a remarkable feature of this region," were
"circular, conical, smooth, oblong ridges with abrupt terminations...." Bunyard, "Diary,"
21; Stephen Powers, Afoot and Alone: A Walk from Sea to Sea by the Southern Route:
Adventures and Observations in Southern California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Etc.
(Hartford, 1872), 14o; George G. Smith, "Parson's Progress to California: Narrative of an
Overland Stage Journey from San Antonio, Texas, to San Francisco, in the Spring of
1859," Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, XXI (1939), 55.
46For another woman's description of the Pecos crossing at Camp Melbourne (Melville
camp) before the construction of the bridge, see Bunyard, "Diary," 214.
47Escondido Springs was a regular stopping place on the San Antonio-San Diego mail
line and also served from time to time as a picket post for Fort Stockton. Conkling and
Conkling, The Butterfield Overland Mail, II, 18; Hart, Old Forts of the Southwest, 129.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983, periodical, 1982/1983; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101209/m1/92/?q=barker: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.